I didn't see the New Year ushered in as I was overcome by sleep. Sleep, when you've been deprived of it, is a commodity worth way more than watching the crystal ball full of lights drop. I happily went to bed before fireworks or gunfire. Don't get me wrong- I am absolutely thrilled to be in a new year and a new decade. I am just old enough to know it will still be new in the morning and unlike the days of my youth, I can wait. Facing a new year hangover free is one of the many things I like about being older and wiser. One of the things that I like best about being a new creation in Christ is not having to wear the shame of all those New Year's Eve parties I went to when I was young a stupid, whether I can remember the details or not.
So, who can answer this for me? Why is it on a perfectly good holiday, one which conveniently falls on a rainy day, the television programming devoid of anything worth watching? I guess it hasn't been a total loss, I got to see the Eloi learn to fight back against the Morlocks for the twenty hundredth time in my life. Who isn't in for watching old movies with bad special effects? The 60s were chockablock full of 'em. If you haven't a clue what I am talking about....don't hate me because I was born at the right time- you know you're envious. If you know exactly what I am talking about here's the real question; if you were George, which three books would you have taken?
It may shock some of my friends to know it but one of the books I would take is a short read by Ray Bradbury entitled "Dandelion Wine." That book more than any other taught me to connect with an author because of connecting with one of the author's characters. In retrospect that's probably because the book is semi-autobiographical. I was too young to know or care about that then. Dandelion Wine forever changed how I read books. I was still in elementary school and that summer I read Catcher in the Rye; To Kill a Mockingbird; Lord of the Flies; Animal Farm; Call of the Wild; White Fang; Of Mice and Men; The Red Pony; The Good Earth; and The Yearling. I learned that summer that not all books should be made into movies and that no movie is as good as the book if the book was good to begin with.... some story lines are best left to a 2 hour movie- one with lots of special effects to divert your attention.
Speaking of attention, I plan to read more this year. I want to revisit some classics and find some recent material worth reading. I also want to spend more time reading my bible instead of reading about the bible. I have a really bad habit of reading what an author thinks about a particular area of Scripture rather than trying to slog through and see what I think about it. Commentaries and extra-biblical resources are no replacement for actually reading the Word.
I am trying to think of a bad habit to replace. It's not that I am having a shortage of them it's that I don't know which of the many i have would be of the best benefit for me to replace. I know myself far to well than to think I will suddenly change and morph into "Susie Spiritual!" I would like to become more keenly focused on the things that matter. I guess that's a good start.
Right now I need a nap. Who did put the "Old" in "Auld Lang Syne?
So, who can answer this for me? Why is it on a perfectly good holiday, one which conveniently falls on a rainy day, the television programming devoid of anything worth watching? I guess it hasn't been a total loss, I got to see the Eloi learn to fight back against the Morlocks for the twenty hundredth time in my life. Who isn't in for watching old movies with bad special effects? The 60s were chockablock full of 'em. If you haven't a clue what I am talking about....don't hate me because I was born at the right time- you know you're envious. If you know exactly what I am talking about here's the real question; if you were George, which three books would you have taken?
It may shock some of my friends to know it but one of the books I would take is a short read by Ray Bradbury entitled "Dandelion Wine." That book more than any other taught me to connect with an author because of connecting with one of the author's characters. In retrospect that's probably because the book is semi-autobiographical. I was too young to know or care about that then. Dandelion Wine forever changed how I read books. I was still in elementary school and that summer I read Catcher in the Rye; To Kill a Mockingbird; Lord of the Flies; Animal Farm; Call of the Wild; White Fang; Of Mice and Men; The Red Pony; The Good Earth; and The Yearling. I learned that summer that not all books should be made into movies and that no movie is as good as the book if the book was good to begin with.... some story lines are best left to a 2 hour movie- one with lots of special effects to divert your attention.
Speaking of attention, I plan to read more this year. I want to revisit some classics and find some recent material worth reading. I also want to spend more time reading my bible instead of reading about the bible. I have a really bad habit of reading what an author thinks about a particular area of Scripture rather than trying to slog through and see what I think about it. Commentaries and extra-biblical resources are no replacement for actually reading the Word.
I am trying to think of a bad habit to replace. It's not that I am having a shortage of them it's that I don't know which of the many i have would be of the best benefit for me to replace. I know myself far to well than to think I will suddenly change and morph into "Susie Spiritual!" I would like to become more keenly focused on the things that matter. I guess that's a good start.
Right now I need a nap. Who did put the "Old" in "Auld Lang Syne?
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